1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus which can be used as either a desk-top type or a wall-mount type, and a facsimile apparatus which has the function of automatically cutting off a recording paper on which received image data is recorded.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a facsimile apparatus which can be used as either a desk-top type or a wall-mount type has been developed. This kind of facsimile apparatus is designed attaching importance to one of being placed on a desk and being mounted on a wall.
Such a facsimile apparatus which is basically designed to be placed on a desk has a cutter for cutting off a recording paper page by page. The recording paper cut off by the cutter is discharged to a stacker (discharge tray).
On the other hand, in such a facsimile apparatus which is basically designed to be mounted on a wall, a recording paper on which received image data is recorded is discharged by its own weight. In the wall-mount type facsimile apparatus, a so-called jam rarely occurs, and, therefore, a cutter is not provided on account of that the papers discharged would scatter if the recording paper is cut off page by page. Accordingly, the recording paper on which received image data is recorded is discharged continuously without being cut off.
In a case where the above-mentioned facsimile apparatus basically designed to be placed on a desk is used as the wall-mount type facsimile apparatus, since a recording paper on which received image data is recorded is cut off page by page, a special stacker must be provided to prevent the discharged papers from falling and scattering. On the other hand, in a case where the facsimile apparatus basically designed to be mounted on a wall is used as the desk-top type facsimile apparatus, since a cutter is not provided, a recording paper on which received image data is recorded is not cut off and instead is discharged continuously. Therefore, it is required to cut off the discharged paper after every facsimile reception, and further, a so-called jam is likely to occur.
As described above, such conventional facsimile apparatus capable of being used as both the desk-top type and the wall-mount type has drawbacks that it requires a special stacker or jam is likely to occur.
In another conventional facsimile apparatus having a function of automatically cutting off a recording paper on which received image data is recorded, a cutter is driven to cut off the recording paper each time image data for one page is received and recorded, and the paper which has been cut off page by page is discharged to a stacker (discharge tray) page by page. However, in such a facsimile apparatus having the function of automatically cutting off the recording paper, discharged papers are piled on one after the other, and therefore piled recording papers must be sorted for each destination at the receiving side, which requires laborious work.
In order to cope with this problem, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-95662 is disclosed a facsimile apparatus capable of selecting either a page-by-page mode in which a recording paper is cut off page by page or a continuous mode in which the recording paper is cut off each time one communication is terminated.
When the number of pages of a manuscript to be facsimiled in one communication is relatively small, e.g., two or three pages, if the continuous mode is selected, recording paper is discharged without being cut off, thereby reducing the sorting work. However, when the manuscript having many pages is received in the continuous mode, there arise such problems that the discharged paper overflows from a stacker, the jam occurs at a discharging outlet, and handling the discharged paper is hard because it is too long.
The first object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of cutting off a recording paper page by page on which received image data is recorded when it is used as the desk-top type, and capable of continuously discharging the recording paper without cutting it off when it is used as the wall-mount type.
The second object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of cutting off a recording paper depending on the number of sheets of a manuscript to be facsimiled.
The first object of the present invention can be achieved by a facsimile apparatus including:
mode setting means for setting one of a cut off mode in which a recording paper on which received image data is recorded is cut off page by page and discharged, and a continuous mode in which the recording paper is continuously discharged without being cut off;
cut-off control means for generating a cut-off signal on receipt of a signal indicating that a transmission of image data for one page is completed and a signal indicating that a transmission of the whole image data is completed in a state where said cut-off mode is set; and
cut-off means for cutting-off the recording paper in response to said cut-off signal.
According to the above-mentioned facsimile apparatus, the problems which occur in the above-mentioned conventional facsimile apparatus which is capable of being used as both the desk-top type and the wall-mount type, that is, occurrence of jam and scattering of the discharged recording papers can be eliminated.
The second object of the invention can be achieved by a facsimile apparatus including:
cut-off mode selection means for selecting one of the first cut off mode in which a recording paper on which received image data of a manuscript is recorded is cut off page by page and discharged, and the second cut-off mode in which the recording paper is cut off page by page and discharged or the recording paper is cut off after the completion of reception of the whole image data of the manuscript depending on the number of pages of the manuscript;
comparison means for comparing data indicative of the number of pages of the manuscript sent prior to transmission of image data with data indicative of a predetermined number of pages; and
cut off means for cutting-off the recording paper on receipt of a signal indicating that transmission of image data for one page of the manuscript is completed and a signal indicating that transmission of the whole image data of the manuscript is completed in a state where said first cut-off mode is selected and in a state where said second cut-off mode is selected and it is detected that the number of pages of the manuscript is more (or smaller) than the predetermined number of pages by said comparison means and for cutting-off the recording paper on receipt of the signal indicating that transmission of the whole image data is completed in a state where said second cut-off mode is selected and it is detected that the number of pages of the manuscript is smaller (or more) than the predetermined number of pages by said comparison means.
With the above-mentioned facsimile apparatus, the overflow of a discharged long recording paper from a stacker and jam can be prevented by setting, for example, the facsimile apparatus to continuously discharge the recording paper without being cut off if the number of pages of a manuscripts to be facsimiled in one communication is small, and to cut off the recording paper page by page if the number of pages of the manuscript.
In a situation in which there is no possibility that the recording paper will overflow from a stacker and jam even if it is long, the facsimile apparatus may be set such that the recording paper is cut off page by page when the number of pages of the manuscript is small, and the recording paper is continuously discharged without being cut off when the number of pages of the manuscript is large until the last page of the manuscript is discharged.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein preferred embodiments of the present invention are clearly shown.